


Red Ramblings

by InkingLarry



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Denial of Feelings, Drunken Confessions, Fluff and Smut, Inspired By Tumblr, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-08
Updated: 2015-02-23
Packaged: 2018-03-11 05:37:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3316163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkingLarry/pseuds/InkingLarry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis walked into his dorm and immediately wanted to walk out. He'd thought his junior year of college wouldn't bring him a new dorm mate, and definitely not a new freshman dorm mate. Not to mention this freshman has long brown curls, flushed cheeks, and popping dimples, all tied together with an award-winning smile. His name's Harry. And Louis thinks he's annoying.</p><p>*Updates are slow right now. I'm trying to fit time in my schedule for writing this fic. I promise I haven't forgotten about it (yes, I realize it's almost been a year, but I haven't forgotten), so you might want to add it to your bookmarks if you're interested in it!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> Hello my children! I'm back with another fanfic. This one was inspired by this tumblr post: http://blaminglouis.tumblr.com/post/110455530845/hazbackpfeifengesicht-but-this-this-is-a
> 
> I really tried to avoid writing it. I really did. But I really wanted to write it. So I did. Who needs to keep working on real novels anyway, when you can write fanfics?

Louis walks into his dorm and immediately wants to walk out.

To simply put it, it's his junior year of college. He's not really excited about it. He just wants to be _done_ with it. So he's used to the routine of packing his bags, moving into his dorm with Zayn before the first semester starts, catching up on the usual drama and settling in. But now he's standing here in the doorway, staring down at the boy sitting on his floor that's definitely, _definitely_ not Zayn. This boy has long brown hair that curls up at the edges, flushed cheeks, and popping dimples. He's not even smiling properly and Louis can tell he has dimples. He's sat there on the floor like a toddler put in time out, hands occupied with a dozen photographs spread across the carpet in front of him.

Louis takes a hand and rubs it down his face with a sigh. This isn't how this year's supposed to go.

The noise catches the boy's attention and he looks up at Louis, face breaking out into a smile. And then he looks back down at his photographs.

"Hi," he says, folding his photos into a neat pile and standing up. He brushes off his bottom and offers his hand to Louis.

"Uh.." Louis mumbles. He's still not excited about anything. "Are you sure this is your dorm?"

The boy shrugs, pulling a key from his back pocket and inspecting the number engraved on it. He models it in front of Louis' eyes. Yes, he's in the right spot. Louis still doesn't want him to be here. "I see," Louis says, brushing past him. Their shoulders bump and he mumbles something of an apology. "Well, I'm Louis."

"Harry," the boy replies. He turns around to watch Louis pulling open the drawer of the left nightstand, dump something in it. It's like he's been here before. "Are you new here?"

"Nope," Louis calls over his shoulder. "Junior."

Harry walks over to the bed adjacent Louis' already claimed one. "Oh. I'm a freshman."

Immediately Louis wants him out. He doesn't like freshmen. Admittedly, he didn't even like himself as a freshman. You always make mistakes as a freshman in college, and Louis doesn't want to have to deal with that kind of drama a second time around. He drops his duffle bag on his bed and gives Harry a tired smile.

"Well, Harry, let me tell you. Being an experienced college student, I have three golden rules. One: don't bring any girls home. Two: you're dumbest when you're drunk. And three: if it seems like someone hates you, they probably do."

Harry looks down at his feet, toes at the carpet. "Okay."

Louis makes for the door. His sisters and mother are still waiting for him to come and get his boxes. "Got that?"

"So I'll leave you alone."

Louis pauses in his tracks and swivels around. "What?"

Harry laughs, looking up at Louis and modeling his dimples. He takes a hand and rips the headscarf from his head, running a hand through his hair and fumbling with the scarf in his hands. "I get the feeling you're pretty much fed up with everyone at this school, so I'll give you a break and leave you alone."

Good enough for Louis. Actually, that's great. "Thanks for noticing." He walks out of the door, turns right down the hallway and finds his mother and Lottie carrying boxes in already.

"Lou!" Lottie cheers. "How's Zayn?"

Louis sighs. "Not Zayn."

He follows them down the hallway and leads them into his room, where Harry's bent over tying his hair back up again. He looks up and ties off a final knot, grinning at Louis' mother.

"Oh," Lottie says, looking from Harry to Louis and back to Harry. "So Zayn got transferred out?"

"I guess so," Louis mutters. Yes, he did. And now look who's replaced him. Some bubbly freshman boy. Louis takes the boxes from Lottie and his mother's arms and sets them on the floor by the foot of his bed, Harry's eyes trailing over his body as he leans over.

"Do you need help with things?" Louis' mother asks him. Harry waves a hand, dismissing the thought.

"My sister's a senior here. She should be on the way here by now. We got here and she dropped me off, and then she said she forgot a few boxes back home and turned around. Most of my boxes are still in her car," he flops onto his bed and flicks at a ring around his thumb.

Louis purses his lips. Sister. "Who's your sister?"

"I doubt you know her. She doesn't get around a lot. Pretty introverted. Gemma? Gemma Styles?"

Ah, Gemma. Louis snorts at the name. If by introverted he means 'she smoked weed with Zayn and Louis last summer,' then that's definitely her. Blue hair, brown eyes, and that same pair of dimples little brother Harry seems to possess. If Harry's anything like his sister then he'll be a trip.

"I know her," Louis smirks. "We're close."

"Oh," Harry grins. And Louis swears he catches a wink hidden in there somewhere. "Isn't she just a joy to have around?"

Louis' family has left the room, likely grabbing more boxes and returning soon. Louis shrugs his shoulders, following after them. "Only when she's high."

Harry's smile drops. Louis doesn't get to see much of his reaction. He's out the door.

-

Gemma arrives with the boxes about an hour after Louis says goodbye to his family, and Louis greets her with a hug and talks about how coincidental it is to have her brother as a dorm mate.

"He's like a child," Gemma laughs, passing a box to Harry from the car. He sticks his tongue out at her for that. "Honestly, he trips over his own feet."

"Do not," Harry whines, leaving the duo behind. Louis walks side-by-side with Gemma to their dorm.

"And if you mention anything about last summer to him, I'll beat you death," she whispers. Louis just chuckles a bit at that.

"Too late."

If Gemma had a free hand she would smack Louis across the face. She's been keeping up the good-girl impression for years just to get through college. The minute Harry knows, he might take it to their parental unit. That's just what he does.

"Harry! I do not smoke weed," she calls out to him. He throws his head over his shoulder with a frown.

"It's okay. Everyone makes mistakes, everybody has those days," he says, wiggling his hips. Gemma rolls her eyes. They make it back to the dorm with the last three boxes in hand, setting everything down and saying their goodbyes, and Harry immediately begins unpacking. Not that Louis blames him; the dorm room reeks like sweaty feet and looks as bare as a hospital. The first thing he pulls out is a set of candles.

"Are you kidding me?" Louis reels. "We're not lighting those."

Harry turns to him with a frown. "Do you smell it in here? We're lighting these," he whines, setting the candles on his nightstand. There's three scents: baby powder, green apple, and cinnamon. Typical. Louis doesn't say much about it. There's nothing _to_ say, really. It's just typical.

-

That night they each go out for dinner on their own, Louis finally getting the chance to meet up with Zayn. They meet at the local diner, the one they went to every Friday night last year, sitting down at a table and ordering their usual before Louis gives up.

"So we're separated," Louis grumbles. "What happened?"

Zayn drops silent for a bit. "I transferred out."

A stone thuds to the bottom of Louis' stomach. He sits up, slapping his palms against the table and drawing the attention of all the nearby diners. "What?" He asks in a whispered yell, leaning back slowly. "Why would you do that?"

"I had to, Lou. Mum made me transfer out. You know she's homophobic and all, and then she found out about you, and she said she didn't want it influencing me."

It's true. Zayn's mum is one of the most homophobic people Louis has ever met, and whenever he was near her he always wanted to cower into a hole for eternity. She always gave him that suspecting glare. It was cold. Louis didn't even want to tell Zayn for a while, and they'd been friends since their sophomore year of high school. When he finally told him it slipped out between drunken slurs and turned into the harshest day of his life. They fell asleep that night together on Zayn's living room couch while his parents were out, Louis tucked into his chest, vision blurred and tears staining his cheeks between slobbery breaths. That was three years ago.

"How'd she find out?" Louis whispers, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands. He's so tired. Why is he tired?

"I dunno, Lou. She just started yelling at me one day. It was hard convincing her I wasn't sucking your dick." Their waitress arrives at that moment, setting their plates in front of each of them. Louis takes his burger and shoves it into his mouth. He feels like hunger has opened a hole in his chest, and it burns, and he hasn't eaten since last night.

"Well, now I've got some freshman kid named Harry to replace you. Zaynie, get this, he's Gemma younger brother. You know, the Gemma."

"No way," Zayn laughs, wiping his mouth on a napkin. "What's he like?"

"Well," Louis huffs, shrugging his shoulders. "He's not a model like you. And he has _candles_. Candles! And the way Gemma made him sound, he sounds like a royal prick. So it's going to be an adventure."

Zayn considers it for a moment. "I met him once at a footie game. He's not that bad. He's actually pretty chill. You know how siblings talk about each other. Oh, and by the way babes, I'm rooming with Liam."

"Are you joking?" Louis coughs, choking on his food. "Of all the people you get to room with Liam? God damn it, why can't I room with my friends?" He sets his burger down and stares at his lap sadly. "This year is going to suck ass."

"Hey, only if you think it will," Zayn says. He's always trying to cheer Louis up. Always. It's like Louis can't be sad, and if he is, Zayn's there wrapping him against his chest and telling him it'll be alright. Louis sighs, leaning back against the booth and pushing his plate back. He's lost his appetite, he thinks. Or maybe he's just too fed up with everything to focus on normal activities.


	2. JUST A QUICK NOTE.

I promise I haven't forgotten this fic. I'm still planning it out and I'm trying to find time to write it, with school/managing a blog/writing my novel/editing someone else's novel it's a bit of a cram in my schedule. But I promise I haven't forgotten this fic! x


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